Nokia Repays $420 K. Grant For Failing To Create Lasting Jobs in New York

Some "Jobs Now," no jobs later.

This week, Nokia, the Finnish phone company currently taking a beating on its bottom line, was forced to pay back $420,000 for a broken deal to bring jobs to its former North American headquarters in Westchester.

The Empire State Development Corporation, a group responsible for moving companies to New York, had originally bestowed a $700,000 “Jobs Now” grant unto the smartphone maker back in 2006 when Nokia purchased a former IBM building in Harrison, New York, roughly 20 miles outside Manhattan. The problem was there were no “Jobs Later,” so to speak.

Nokia hired 300 employees in Westchester and was eligible for an additional $300,000 if they doubled that by 2011. Instead Apple, RIM, and Samsung edged Nokia out of the market and the company announced plans to leave New York a year ago due to downsizing around the globe.

The full amount of the grant wasn’t recoupable because Nokia “did technically create jobs for awhile,” reports Lohud.com. However, Nokia did leave one lasting legacy in Westchester. The company splurged on a $30 million renovation–stripping the building down to steel in order to rebuild it “as a modern glass-enclosed office building.” Ain’t priorities grand?

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